The present invention is related to digital media and more particularly, in certain embodiments, to systems and methods for presenting digital media to a user.
Improvements in processor speed, digital storage capacity, and network bandwidth have enabled remarkable advances in the consumer audio experience. Examples of this include the advent of services that allow music to be purchased online and maintained on user personal computers, as well as the development of portable MP3 players that allow users to carry their favorite songs anywhere they are. Audio playback capability is also being incorporated into devices such as PDAs and cellphones. Users can populate their MP3 players with songs from their own personal CD library and may also incorporate music purchased from the previously mentioned online services.
To suitably restrict distribution of content that has been purchased online, many current MP3 players incorporate digital rights management (DRM) capabilities. Such content is typically encrypted with a key that is specific to a particular MP3 player. The user can select the individual song on the player and, in response, the player will decrypt the selected song using the player-specific key. The content cannot, however, be played on a different player.
A new type of audio content service is now envisioned where a user subscribes to particular “channels” on his or her personal computer. The channel content is periodically refreshed over a distribution network. A portable player can receive the periodically refreshed content from a personal computer it docks to, or possibly directly from the distribution network. The service has the advantage that the user can simply select the type of content that he or she is interested in without the need to identify particular albums and/or songs. The user experience is much more akin to that of radio. The service is also very useful in presenting news and sports information.
This new type of service needs to be accommodated to the rights of content owners. An advantage is that the service can take advantage of a lower cost so-called “statutory” content license that is typically significantly less expensive than outright purchase of an unlimited right to play the song on the user's computer or portable device. By the provisions of the Digital Millennium Copyright Act, the statutory license is available on a per-song basis to streaming music services.
FIG. 12A shows a typical arrangement for DMCA streaming of content subject to a statutory license. A central streaming server 1202 stores the content and provides real-time access over the Internet. Server 1202 stores one or more playlists, playlists being ordered sequences of digital media content items such as songs. A media content player 1204, such as, e.g., Windows Media Player, Real Player, etc. is running on a client device such as a personal computer.
Such a statutory license places certain restrictions on content play. For example, there are limitations on how often a song can be repeated, how often songs of a particular album can be repeated, how often songs by a particular artist can be repeated, how long a stream should play before repeating, etc. Also, individual sound recordings may not be played within one hour of a request by a listener or at a time specifically designated by the listener. Streaming server 1202 enforces these restrictions by structuring its playlists appropriately and limiting user access to individual songs and information about the ordering of playlists. Streaming server 1202 also tracks content play to calculate the statutory royalty due to the rights holder.
It is desired to make DMCA statutory content available on a portable device such as an MP3 player by way of the new audio content service described above. At the time of playback, the portable device will be entirely under the control of the user and the streaming server will be unable to enforce restrictions in real-time. For example, normally, an MP3 player provides the capability to skip songs, but if this function is used in an unlimited way, the DMCA restrictions may be violated. Also, to prevent content restrictions from being easily circumvented, it will be necessary to somehow lock out user access to individual songs. It will further be necessary to securely log which songs have been played and aggregate this information across users for royalty calculation purposes.
What are needed are systems and methods for providing the above-described channel-based audio service on a portable device while assuring that the conditions of a statutory license under the DMCA are met.